S has a lot of miniature farm animals (some from miscellaneous Playmobil sets;some from a partial Safari Ltd Farm TOOBI found at a garage sale), so making a farm small world seemed only natural!

First I set to work making stalls for the animals. These was quickly accomplished with my best friend, hot glue gun, and some popsicle sticks.

Next I needed fill materials. I try to keep the materials in my small worlds as simple as possible, so I went with some blue cardstock paper for the pond, some gravel for the edge of the pond, some millet puff cereal we had for the horses' stall, dried coffee grounds for the pig stall, cut up dried grass from our front yard, and cut up fresh grass from our backyard.

S really enjoyed the smell of the cut grass, and as this was several weeks ago when it was still winter, it really helped our house smell a bit like summer (fresh cut grass always reminds me of summer!).

S decided to play with tiny pony first. He took a drink from the pond first.

Then went to visit the pigs.

Finally he came back to his stall and ate some apples with the rest of his horse family.

Then S decided that everyone was tired and needed her to create beds for them throughout the world.

The beds were each individually made by S. They consisted of a little bit of everything...

Now little pig is asleep and she's off making another bed.

She really wanted to feel the "dirt" with her foot. :)

After each bed was carefully made, S took all the fencing and the pond, requested a piece of plastic wrap, and made this. It's a big house with a "clear window" for Mama Pig. S then proceeded to tell several stories about Mama Pig and how she got to her home. Small worlds are a fabulous venue for encouraging story telling. This bin stayed around for several days, and my husband and I enjoyed several versions of Mama Pig stories while X really enjoyed playing with the dried grass. :)

All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children. As your child's parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family. I always encourage contacting your child's pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies). Observe caution and safety at all times. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.

Comments

Another awesome small world from the small world queen! Just love this! My favorite part is how your daughter made her own creation, and it led to all sorts or creative play and imaginative stories! Off to share! :)

Thank you, Emily! :) So the plastic container is an underbed storage container - it's about the size of a kid, hahaha - I forget how many gallons it technically holds. But just look in the storage section for one and you'll recognize it! And the felt mats weren't necessarily measured - so I'll have to guess for ya - I think maybe 1 to 1.5 yards on each side? Really any size will do. I always lay it out and eyeball it. :)